US president Donald Trump shifted his rhetoric about the war in Ukraine on Tuesday, saying he believes Ukraine can win back all of the territory Russia has taken since its invasion, although he gave no indication of how that would affect US policy.
Mr Trump made his comment in a post on his Truth Social platform soon after meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. He had previously said that both Kyiv and Moscow would have to cede land to end the war.
“With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, Nato, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option,” Mr Trump said in his post.
In the post, Mr Trump criticised Russia, saying it had been fighting “aimlessly” in a war that a “real military power” would have won in less than a week. But he has not imposed tougher sanctions and he and aides have seemed to indicate that Kyiv must cede both Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine to Russia in order to end the deadliest conflict in Europe in 80 years.
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In his post on Tuesday, however, Mr Trump hinted at stronger action. “[Russian president Vladimir] Putin and Russia are in BIG Economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act,” the post said.
Mr Trump said the US will continue to supply weapons to allies “for Nato to do what they want with them”.
Earlier, Mr Zelenskiy called for pressure to be increased on Russia as he tried to persuade the Mr Trump to swing more firmly behind Kyiv’s war effort.
The Ukrainian leader told reporters as he sat beside Mr Trump at the start of the meeting that he had “good news” to share from the battlefield where Kyiv’s forces have been locked in fierce fighting with Russia for over three and a half years.
“We need more pressure, more sanctions now with [the] United States, first of all [and] Europe,” he said in opening remarks, adding that he wanted to discuss Mr Trump’s call for all remaining European powers to stop buying Russian energy altogether.
Mr Trump earlier derided some European powers for continuing to buy Russian energy despite the war.
Mr Trump described his meeting with Mr Zelenskiy as an “important” one on a busy day of talks.
The Ukrainian leader told reporters he wanted to discuss US involvement in western security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a future postwar settlement during their talks.
He was also expected to raise how to improve Ukraine’s air defences and to set up a meeting between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine as part of Mr Trump’s peace effort, a source in Ukraine’s delegation told Reuters ahead of the talks.
Mr Trump has previously pushed the idea of a meeting between Mr Zelenskiy and Mr Putin, possibly with him also taking part, as a way to make progress in his bid to end the war launched by Russia in February 2022.
Moscow has said no such meeting is planned and that the agenda would have to be well prepared for it to happen. Kyiv has pointed to that as proof that Russia is not willing to deviate from its maximalist aims and is obstructing Mr Trump’s efforts.
A new pragmatism in Ukraine has made Mr Zelenskiy’s latest talks with Mr Trump less fraught than earlier meetings, with lessons learned from February’s Oval Office bust-up.
Kyiv’s war effort relies heavily on US intelligence sharing and a new mechanism that allows Europe to buy it US weapons such as air defences.
That makes preserving the relationship with Mr Trump vital for Kyiv, even though Ukrainians have been disappointed as he has reoriented policy away from the unambiguous military and diplomatic support Kyiv received from former US president Joe Biden.
Ukrainians were shocked when Mr Trump gave red carpet treatment to Mr Putin at a summit in Alaska, and believe Moscow will not stop its war unless it faces heavy external pressure, including sanctions.
The Ukrainian delegation has so far used its trip to the UN to show how it not only needs military and political assistance from its allies, but that it also has important experience, knowledge and resources to offer its allies. – Reuters
